She has more than 50 volumes of various works to her credit, including tales, plays and political texts, alongside her 70 novels. Like her great-grandmother, Louise Dupin , whom she admired, George Sand advocated for women's rights and passion, criticized the institution of marriage , and fought against the prejudices of a conservative society. She was considered scandalous because of her turbulent love life, her adoption of masculine clothing, and her masculine pseudonym. She was the paternal great-granddaughter of the Marshal of France Maurice de Saxe — , and on her mother's side, her grandfather was Antoine Delaborde, master paumier and master birder.
Sand was one of many notable 19th-century women who chose to wear male attire in public. In , the police chief of Paris issued an order requiring women to apply for a permit in order to wear male clothing. Some women applied for health, occupational, or recreational reasons e.
Sand obtained a permit to wear men's clothing in , [ 11 ] justifying it as being less expensive and far sturdier than the typical dress of a noblewoman at the time.
In addition to being comfortable, Sand's male attire enabled her to circulate more freely in Paris than most of her female contemporaries and gave her increased access to venues that barred women, even those of her social standing.
While some contemporaries were critical of her comportment, many people accepted her behaviour—until they became shocked with the subversive tone of her novels. In , at the age of 27, she chose her pseudonym George Sand. She added George to complete the name and distinguish it from Sandeau's, removing the final "s" from the usual French spelling of the name to heighten its ambiguity as a pseudonym.
